USA > California > History of California, Volume VI > Part 32
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87
284
POLITICAL HISTORY
Affairs moved on with occasional disturbances to the public peace, which were suppressed in San Fran- cisco by a popular court, and in the outlying districts by military authority.60 The election of August 1st for delegates to the constitutional convention, and municipal officers,61 passed without disturbance, and preparations began to be made for the convention itself, which was to be held at Monterey. But now it was found that such was the pressing nature of private business, such the expense and inconvenience of a journey to the capital from the northern and southern districts, that some doubt began to be enter- tained of the presence of the delegates. King, who had the principal management of affairs, overcame this difficulty by directing Commodore Jones to send the United States steamer Edith to San Diego, Los An- geles; and Santa Bárbara, to bring the southern dele- gates to Monterey;62 while the northern delegates chartered the brig Frémont to carry them from San Francisco. The Edith was wrecked on the passage, and the Frémont narrowly escaped the same fate. All arrived safely at their destination, however, and were ready to organize on the 3d of September
Never in the history of the world did a similar con- vention come together. They were there to form a state out of unorganized territory; out of territory only lately wrested from a subjugated people, who were elected to assist in framing a constitution in con- formity with the political views of the conquerors. These native delegates were averse to the change about to be made. They feared that because they were large land-owners they would have the burden of
60 Riley, Order No. 22, to commander of posts, to investigate outrages. Savage, Coll., MS., iii. 36; U. S. Sen. Doc., 52, xiii. p. 12-41; 31st Cong., 1st Sess .; H. Ex. Doc., 5, p. i. pp. 156, 161, 165-78, 31st Cong., Ist Sess.
61 Peter H. Burnett was elected chief justice, José M. Covarrubias, Pacifi- cus Ord, and Louis Dent were chosen associate judges. Alcaldes were elected in the several districts.
62 The Edith was commanded by Lieut McCormick, who knew little of the coast, and being bewildered in a fog, lost the steamer. Letter of Commodore Jones, in H. Ex. Doc., 31, 1, no. 17, pp. 951-2; Cong. Globe, 1851-2, 535, 578; Napa Register, April 20, 1872.
285
PERSONNEL OF THE CONVENTION.
supporting the new government laid upon their shoul- ders, and naturally feared other innovations painful to their feelings because opposed to their habits of thought. These very apprehensions forced them to be- come the representatives of their class, in order to avert as much as possible the evils they foreboded. Such men as Vallejo, Carrillo, and De la Guerra could not be ignored, though they spoke only through an inter- preter. Carrillo was from one of the southern districts, a pure Castilian, of decided character, and prejudiced against the invaders. De la Guerra was perhaps the most accomplished and best educated of the Spanish delegation, and had no love for the Americans, although he accepted his place among them, and sat afterward in the state senate. Vallejo had not forgotten the Bear Flag filibusters who had subjected him to the ignominy of arrest; and each had his reason for being somewhat a drawback on the proceedings.63
Of foreign-born delegates there were few. Captain Sutter was noticeable, owing to his long residence in the country, and his reputation for hospitality; but otherwise he carried little weight. Louis Dent, dele- gate from Santa Bárbara, an Englishman, voted with De la Guerra. Among the Americans were a num- ber who were, or afterward became, more or less famous; H. W. Halleck, then secretary of state under Governor Riley; Thomas O. Larkin,64 first and last
63 Crosby, to whom I am indebted for many hints regarding character, says that when the state seal was under discussion, the Spanish members exhibited considerable feeling upon the bear being used as the emblem of California. Vallejo objected to it; he thought it should at least be under the control of a vaquero, with a lasso round its neck! Events in Cal., MS., 34. Caleb Lyon of Lyonsdale enjoyed the reputation of designing the state seal, although it was not justly his due. Major R. S. Garnet designed it, but being of a retiring disposition, gave his drawing to Lyon, who added some stars around the riin, and obtained the prize of $1,000, but forgot to purchase with it a printing-press, which was one of the conditions. Ross Browne, in Overland Monthly, xv. 346; First Ann'l Territ. Pioneers, 56-7; S. F. Cal. Courier, July 1850; Sac. Union, March 17, 1858. The great seal represents the bay of San Francisco, with the goddess Minerva in the foreground, the Sierra in the background, mining in the middle distance, the grizzly bear at the feet of Minerva, and the word Eureka at the top, under a belt of stars. Around the whole, 'The Great Seal of the State of California.' S. F. Ann. App., 805.
64 Thomas Oliver Larkin was born in Mass. in 1803, and migrated to Cali-
286
POLITICAL HISTORY
United States consul to California; Edward Gilbert, who established the Alta California, was sent to con- gress, and killed in a duel, McDougal became gov- ernor, and Gwin United States senator; J Ross Browne, reporter of the convention, and a popular writer, was afterward employed as a secret and open agent of the government, to look into politics and into mines,65 Jacob R. Snyder, a Philadelphian, whom Commodore Stockton found in the country, and to whom he intrusted the organization of an artillery corps, and made quartermaster to Frémont's battalion. Under Mason's administration he was surveyor for the middle department of California, and one of the founders of Sacramento. Stephen G. Foster, Elisha O. Crosby, K. H. Dimmick, Lansford W. Hastings, were all enterprising northern men; besides others less well known. Rodman M. Price was subsequently member of congress from, and governor of, the state of New Jersey; and Pacificus Ord district attorney for the United States in California.
The convention was not lacking in talent. It was not chosen with regard to party proclivities, but was understood to be under the management, imaginary if not real, of southern men. It was a curious mixture. On one hand a refined, and in his own esteem at least an already distinguished, representative of the after- ward arrogant chivalry who sought to rule California,
fornia in 1832. He was deeply concerned in all the measures which severed Cal. from Mexico, loaning his funds and credit to meet the exigencies of the war. He was made consul and navy agent by the U. S. govt. He gave each of the officers of the Southampton a lot in Benicia. Larkin, Doc., vii. 72; Colton, Three Years, 28-30. He was at one time supposed to be the richest man in America. S. I. Friend, vii. 85.
65 John Ross Browne was an Irishman, born in 1822 at Dublin, where his father edited the Comet, a political paper, and who immigrated to the U. S. in 1833. The lad, whose new home was in Louisville, Ky., exhibited a pas- sion for travel, which he gratified. He had talent, and became reporter to a Cincinnati paper, studied medicine, reported for the U. S. senate, and held several situations under govt, at last being given a place as lient in the revenue service, and sent to Cal., where he found the service had been reduced and himself discharged. He then became reporter for the convention. Sub- sequently he was secret treasury agent, and emyloyed to report upon mines. His last appointment was as minister to China. His death occurred in Dec. 1875.
287
MEMBERS OF THE CONVENTION.
was William M. Gwin. On the other the loose-jointed, honest, but blatant and unkempt McCarver, whom we have known in Oregon. Another kind of south- erner was Benjamin F. Moore, who had migrated from Florida through Texas, carried a huge bowie- knife, and was usually half drunk.66 Joel P. Walker we have seen coming overland in 1840 and 1841 with his family and household gods, first to Oregon and then to California, a pioneer of pioneers; Charles T. Betts of Virginia, who was a man of ability, and an earnest southerner; James M. Jones, a young man, a fine linguist, and good lawyer, who was United States district judge for the southern district of California after the admission of California, and who died in 1851 of consumption, at San José,67 an extreme southerner in his views, fully believing in and insisting on the divine right of slave-holders to the labor of the African race; the genial and scholarly O. M. Wozencraft, William E. Shannon, an Irishman by birth, and a lawyer, who introduced that section in the bill of rights which made California a free state-borrowed, it is true, but as illustrious and imperishable as it is Ameri- can. 68
On the 1st of the month the members present met in Colton hall to adjourn to the 3d. Some debate was had on the apportionment as it had been made, the election as it stood, and the justice of increasing the delegation from several districts, which was finally admitted, when forty-eight instead of thirty-seven members were received.69 Of these, fourteen were
66 Foster, Angeles in 1847, MS., 17; Crosby, Events in Cal., MS., 47. In 1852 Moore received the whig nomination for congress but was defeated. As a criminal lawyer he was somewhat noted. He several times represented Tuolumne co. in the legislature. He died Jan. 2, 1866, at Stockton. Pajaro Times, Jan. 13, 1866; Havilah Courier, Jan. 12, 1867.
67 Burnett, Recoll., MS., ii. 255-67; Gwin, Mem., MS., 14.
68 Mcclellan, Repub. in Amer., 115-16. Shannon came to the U. S. in 1830 at the age of 7 years, his father settling in Steuben co., N. Y. He studied law, but joined the N. Y. reg. for Cal. in 1846. He was elected to the state senate in 1850, and died of cholera Nov. 13th of that year. Sic. Transcript, Nov. 14, 1850; Shuck's Repres. Men, 853-4; San Jose Pioneer, March, 30, 1878. 69 The rule under which the additional delegates were admitted was that
288
POLITICAL HISTORY.
lawyers, twelve farmers, seven merchants. The re- mainder were engineers, bankers, physicians, and print-
every one having received over 100 votes in his district should be a member. The list of regular delegates stood as follows:
Names.
Nativity. Residence. Age.
John A. Sutter ..
Switzerland.
47
H. W. Halleck
. New York
. Monterey . .32
William M. Gwin.
Tennessee. San Francisco. .44
William M. Steuart
Maryland .
San Francisco 49
Joseph Hoborn .. Maryland
San Francisco .39
Thomas L. Vermeule. .New Jersey
O. M. Wozencraft. . Ohio ..
San Joaquin .34
B. F. Moore ..
Florida. . San Joaquin .. 29
William E. Shannon
. New York . Sacramento. .27
Winfield S. Sherwood.
New York
Sacramento 32
Elam Brown
. New York . San José .52
Joseph Aram.
New York
.. San Jose .39
J. D. Hoppe ..
Ohio
. Sutter .. 32
Elisha O. Crosby
New York . Vernon
34
H. K. Dimmick.
New York
. San José.
34
Julian Hanks.
Connecticut ... . San José . .39
M. M. McCarver.
Kentucky. ... Sacramento. 42
Francis J. Lippitt.
Rhode Island San Francisco .37
.47
Thomas O. Larkin.
New York ..... San Francisco.
.36
Louis Dent. Missouri Monterey 26
Henry Hill. .. Virginia.
Monterey. .33
Charles T. Betts. .Virginia. Monterey 40
Myron Norton
. Vermont.
.San Francisco .. 27
James M. Jones.
Kentucky San Joaquin .. 25
Pedro Sainsevain. .Bordeaux. . San José. . .26
José M. Covarrubias. France .. Santa Barbara. .41
Antonio M. Pico .. California. San Jose. 40
Jacinto Rodriguez.
California. .
Monterey .36
Stephen G. Foster.
Maine .. Los Angeles 28
Henry A. Tefft.
New York. San Luis Obispo . San Joaquin .. .. 25 .26
J. M. H. Hollingsworth. Abel Stearns.
Maryland.
San Gabriel. 38
34
Joel P. Walker.
Virginia. .
... Sonoma. 52
Jacob R. Snyder.
Pennslyvania. . Sacramento. .34
Lansford W. Hastings. . Ohio.
. Sacramento. .30
Pablo de la Guerra
California .... Santa Bárbara .30
M. G. Vallejo.
. California. .. . . Sonoma 42
José Antonio Carrillo.
California. .
. Los Angeles .53
Manuel Dominguez
California. ..
. Los Angeles 46
Robert Semple. Kentucky.
Benicia. .42
Pacificus Ord
Maryland ..
.Monterey .33
Edward Gilbert.
New York .. San Francisc .. 27
A. J. Ellis New York .. . .. San Francisco. .. 33
Miguel de Pedrorena. . Spain. San Diego .. .41
S. F. Bulletin, May 25, 1878; Mendocino Co. Hist., 292-7; Browne, Constit. Debates, An. S. F., 136-7; San Joaquin Co. Hist., 22-3; Alameda Co. Hist. Atlas, 13; Yuba Co. Hist., 37-8; James Queen and W. Lacy were elected 'additional delegates' to represent Sac. Sutter Co. Hist., 26; Ezquer, Mem., 31-2; S. F. Post, June 26, 1886.
Massachusetts . Los Angeles .51
Hugh Reid. . Scotland ..
. New York. .... San Joaquin.
Benjamin S. Lippincott.
Massachusetts . Monterey . .
Rodman M. Price
Maryland . San José .35
John McDougal.
.. 35
289
NORTH AND SOUTH.
ers.70 These professions did not prevent their being miners any more than it disqualified them from legis- lation, and nothing but crime bars the American from that privilege. All were in the prime of life, all very much in earnest, and patriotic according to their light, albeit their light was colored more or less by local prejudices. To be a patriot, a man must be prejudiced ; but the respect we accord to his patriotism depends upon the breadth or quality of his bias.
As I have remarked, the northern spirit was pre- pared to array itself, if necessary, against any assump- tion on the part of the chivalry in the convention, whose pretensions to the divine right to rule displayed itself, not only upon slave soil, but was carried into the national senate chamber, and had already flaunted itself rather indiscreetly in California. While the choice of a president was under discussion, Snyder took occasion to state in a facetious and yet pointed manner that Mr Gwin had come down prepared to be president, and had also a constitution in his pocket which the delegates would be expected to adopt, sec- tion by section."1 Both Snyder's remarks and Gwin's denial were received with laughter, but the hint was not lost. Snyder proposed Doctor Semple for presi- dent of the convention, and the pioneer printer of Monterey, a giant in height if not in intellect, was duly elected.72 He was a large-hearted and measur- ably astute man, with tact enough to preside well, and as much wisdom in debate as his fellows.73
The chosen reporter of the convention, J. Ross Browne, had a commission to establish post-offices, and established one at San José before the conven- tion, and none anywhere afterward. William G.
70 Overland Monthly, ix. 14-16; Simonin, Grand Quest., 320-3.
11 Crosby, Events in Cal., MS., 38-40. This was true; but it was the consti ... tution of Iowa.
72 Gwin explains that it was the distrust of the native-born members that defeated him. They attributed to him 'the most dangerous designs upon their property, in the formation of a state government.' Memoirs, MS., 11.
13 Royce, California, 62; Colton, Three Years, 32; Sherman, Mem., i. 78; Capron, 47-8.
HIST CAL., VOL. VI. 19
290
POLITICAL HISTORY.
Marcy was selected secretary; Caleb Lyon, of Lyons- dale, first assistant, and J. G. Field, second assistant secretaries. William Hartnell was employed to inter- pret for the Spanish members. Chaplains were at hand, Padre Ramirez and S. H. Willey alternating with the refugee superior of the Lower California mis- sions, Ignacio Arrellanes.74
Thus equipped the delegates proceeded harmoniously with their work. They did not pretend to originate a constitution; they carefully compared those of the several states with whose workings they were familiar, and borrowed from each what was best and most ap- plicable, or could be most easily made to conform to the requirements of California, all of which, by amend- ments frequently suggested, became modelled into a new and nearly faultless instrument.
To the surprise of northern men, no objection was made by the southerners to that section in the bill cf rights which declared that neither slavery nor invol- untary servitude,75 except in punishment of crime, should ever be tolerated in the state. It was not in the bill as reported by the committee76 having it in
14 Browne, L. Cal., 51; Willey's Thirty Years, 32.
75 The temper of the majority was understood. As early as 1848 the ques- tion was discussed in Cal. in relation to its future. The editor of the Cali- fornian, in May of that year, declares that he echoes the sentiment of the people of California in saying that ' slavery is neither needed nor desired here, and that if their voices could be heard in the halls of our national legislature, it would be as the voice of one man; 'rather than put this blighting curse upon us, let us remain as we are, nnacknowledged, unaided.' A correspondent, signing himself G. C. H., in the same journal of Nov. 4, 1848, writes: 'If white labor is too high for agriculture, laborers on contract may be brought from China, or elsewhere, who if well treated will work faithfully for low wages.' Buckelew, in the issue of March 15, 1848, said: 'We have not heard one of our acquaintance in this country advocate the measure, and we are almost certain that 97-100 of the present population are opposed to it.' 'We left the slave states,' remarked the editor again, 'because we did not like to bring up a family in a miserable, can't-help-one's-self condition,' and dearly as he loved the union he should prefer Cal. independent to seeing her a slave state. The N. Y. Express of Sept. 10, 1848, thought the immigration would settle the question. It did not change the sentiment, except to add rather more friends of slavery to the population, but still with a majority against it. On the 8th of Jan., 1849, a mass meeting in Sac. passed resolutions opposing slavery. This was the first public expression of the kind.
76 Gwin was chairman of the committee on constitution. Norton, Hill, Foster, De la Guerra, Rodriguez, Tefft, Covarrubias, Dent, Halleck, Dim- mick, Hoppe, Vallejo, Walker, Snyder, Sherwood, Lippincott, and Moore constituted the committee. Browne, Constit. Debates, 29.
291
THE BAD BLACK MAN.
charge, but when offered by Shannon was unanimously adopted. Gwin had set out on the road to the United States senate,77 and could not afford to raise any troublesome questions; and most of the southern men among the delegates having office in view were sim- ilarly situated. Some of them hoped to regain all that they lost when they came to the subject of boundary. Let northern California be a free state; out of the remainder of the territory acquired from Mexico half a dozen slave states might be made.
But the African, a veritable Banquo's ghost, would not down, even when as fairly treated as I have shown; and McCarver insisted on the adoption of a section preventing free negroes from coming to or residing in the state. It was adroitly laid to rest by Green, who persuaded McCarver that his proposed section properly belonged in the legislative chapter of the constitution, where, however, it never appeared.
The boundary was more difficult to deal with, intro- ducing the question of slavery in an unexpected phase. The report of the committee on boundary included in the proposed state all the territory between the line established by the treaty of 1848 between Mexico and the United States, on the south, and the parallel of 42° on the north, and west of the 116th meridian of longitude. McDougal, chairman of the committee, differed from it, and proposed the 105th meridian as the eastern boundary, taking in all territory acquired from Mexico by the recent treaty, and a portion of the former Louisiana territory besides. Semple was in favor of the Sierra Nevada as the eastern boundary, but proposed leaving it open for congress to decide. Gwin took a little less, naming for the eastern line the boundary between California and New Mexico, as laid
17 Gwin says in his Memoirs, MS., 5, that on the day of Prest Taylor's funeral he met Stephen A. Douglas in front of the Willard's Hotel, and in- formed him that on the morrow he should be en route for California, which by the failure of congress to give it a territorial government, would be forced to make itself a state, to urge that policy and to become a candidate for U. S. senator; and that within a year he would present his credentials. He was enabled to keep his word.
292
POLITICAL HISTORY.
down on Preuss' map of Oregon and California from the survey of Frémont and others. Halleck suggested giving the legislature power to accede to any proposi- tion of congress which did not throw the eastern line west of the Sierra; to which Gwin agreed. "If we include territory enough for several states," said the latter,"it is competent for the people and the state of California to divide it hereafter." He thought the fact that a great portion of the territory was unex- plored, and that the Mormons had already applied for a territorial government, should not prevent them from including the whole area named. Then arose McCar- ver, and declared it the duty of the house to fix a permanent boundary, both that they might know definitely what they were to have, and to prevent the agitation of the slavery question in the event of a fu- ture division of "territory enough for several states." Shannon proposed nearly the line which was finally adopted for California, which he said included "every prominent and valuable point in the territory; every point which is of any real value to the state ;" and in- sisted upon fixing the boundary in the constitution. " I believe, if we do not, it will occasion in the congress of the United States a tremendous struggle," said he; and gave good reasons for so believing. "The slave- holding states of the south will undoubtedly strive their utmost to exclude as much of that territory as they can, and contract the limits of the new free state within the smallest possible bounds. They will nat- urally desire to leave open as large a tract of country as they can for the introduction of slavery hereafter. The northern states will oppose it [the constitution], because that question is left open"-and so the admis- sion of California would be long delayed, whereas the thing they all most desired was that there should be no delay. Hastings also took this view. "The south will readily see that the object [of Gwin's boundary] is to force the settlement of the question [slavery ]. The south will never agree to it. It raises the ques-
293
BOUNDARY QUESTION.
tion in all its bitterness and in its worse form, before congress."
These remarks aroused Betts, who plunged into the controversy : "I understand now, from one of the gen- tlemen that constitute the new firm of Gwin and Hal- leck-the gentleman from Monterey-who avows at last the reason for extending this eastern boundary be- yond the natural limits of California, that it will settle in the United States the question of slavery over a district beyond our reasonable and proper limits, which we do not want, but which we take in for the purpose of arresting further dispute on the subject of slavery in that territory. It has been well asked if the gen- tleman can suppose that southern men can be asleep when such a proposition is sounded in their ears. Sir, the avowal of this doctrine on the floor of this house necessarily and of itself excites feelings that I had hoped might be permitted to slumber in my breast while I was a resident of California. But it is not to be. This harrowing and distracting question of the rights of the south and the aggressions of the north -this agitating question of slavery-is to be intro- duced here .... Why not indirectly settle it by extend- ing your limits to the Mississippi? Why not include the island of Cuba, a future acquisition of territory that we may one day or other obtain, and forever settle this question by our action here ?" And then he gave his reasons for fixing a boundary, and not a too exten- sive one, urging the greater political power of small states.
McDougal seems to have been enlightened by the discussion, and to have made up his mind to present his views; this being his first attempt to deliver any kind of argument in a deliberative body. He was now opposed to taking in the country east of the Sierra, which he had first advocated. "The people may change their notions about slavery after they get hold of the territory ; they may assemble in convention and adopt slavery. It leaves this hole open. You at
294
POLITICAL HISTORY.
once acquire the sole control over this confederacy for time immemorial. We do not wish to give you this power, because other subjects, as important as that of slavery, may arise in this government, and you would have power alone to control them. And another very good reason, which they might urge with a great deal of plausibility : Suppose this state should have this immense population, this immense representation- suppose, like South Carolina, she should undertake to act independently, and recede from the confederacy- she could do it, having the physical and all other powers to do it. If, therefore, we adopt this line, I am very sure it will be sent back to us. We will have to call another convention and adopt other lines to suit the views of congress. In the mean time we have no law. We are in the same chaotic condition that we are now in. And that is the very thing, Mr Chair- man, if the secret was known, which I apprehend they want to do. They want a constitution presented to congress so objectionable that it will be thrown back for another convention. Gentlemen have risen on this floor and stated that they had received letters from the south, and that they knew of many others who want to bring their slaves here and work them for a short period in the mines, and then emancipate them. If this constitution is thrown back upon us for reconsideration, it leaves them the opportunity of bringing their slaves here. It is what they desire to do, to create some strongly objectionable feature in the constitution in order that they may bring their slaves here and work them three months. They will even then get more than they can get for them in the states. I look upon that as the result if we send our constitution to congress with a boundary so objection- able as this. We will have herds of slaves thrown upon us-people totally incapable of self-government; and they are so far from the mother country that we can never get rid of them; and we will have an evil
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.